Astronomyis,verygenerallyspeaking,thestudy
ofthestarsandeverythingtodowiththem– how
theyareborn,liveanddie;howtheywork;the
objectsthatgoaroundthemandmuch,muchmore.
TheskyinAugustandSeptemberoffersthenaked-
eyeobserversomeofthemostbeautifulstarsinthe
sky,andthemottledbandoftheMilkyWaytoo,
itselfmadeoutofcountlessbillionsofstars.
Butbeyondthestars,throughtheirmistyveil,
lieobjectsthatareasfascinatingastheyare
faint,asbeautifulastheyaresubtle.Fourofour
sixchallengingdeep-skyobjectsthismonthare
nebulae,oneisa distant,glitteringstarclusterand
thesixthisanothergalaxyaltogether,anelegant
Catherinewheelofstarsfarbeyondtheboundary
ofourownMilkyWay.Alltheseobjectsaregoing
tobea challengeforyouifyoulivesomewherethat
isn’tblessedwitha darksky,anda couplerequirea
largetelescopetoseethem,buttheyareallworth
lookingfor.
Theghostly,curledwispsoftheVeilNebulaare
allthatremainsofa once-mightystarthatblew
upmillenniaago.NGC 6947 isa tightlywound
spiralgalaxypositivelypoppingandfizzingwith
starformation.M56isoneofthefaintestobjects
inMessier’sfamouscatalogue– anenormousball
ofperhapsa millionstars,reducedina telescope
eyepiecetoa tiny,smokyballbyitsincredible
distance.Allyouneednowisa clearnight!This month’stargets: theghostly remainsofdead stars,glittering,
ancient star clustersand a spectaculargalaxy far, faraway
Diving deep into
the summer sky
The Veil Nebula
as it appears in
ultravioletTheFireworksGalaxyDeep sky challenge
© NASA\JPL-Caltech© Göran Nilsson & The Liverpool TelescopeSTARGAZER